Poirot’s eyebrows rose.
‘It is that definitely – murder, I mean?’
‘Eh? Oh, no other solution possible! Perfectly clear case. Murder – and a brutal murder at that!’
‘Who is the victim?’
‘Old Simeon Lee. One of the richest men we’ve got! Made his money in South Africa originally. Gold – no, diamonds, I believe. He sunk an immense fortune in manufacturing some particular gadget of mining machinery. His own invention, I believe. Anyway, it’s paid him hand over fist! They say he’s a millionaire twice over.’
Poirot said: ‘He was well liked, yes?’
Johnson said slowly:
‘Don’t think anyone liked him. Queer sort of chap. He’s been an invalid for some years now. I don’t know very much about him myself. But of course he is one of the big figures of the county.’
‘So this case, it will make a big stir?’
‘Yes. I must get over to Longdale as fast as I can.’
He hesitated, looking at his guest. Poirot answered the unspoken question:
‘You would like that I should accompany you?’
Johnson said awkwardly:
‘Seems a shame to ask you. But, well, you know how it is! Superintendent Sugden is a good man, none better, painstaking, careful, thoroughly sound – but – well, he’s not an imaginative chap in any way. Should like very much, as you are here, benefit of your advice.’
He halted a little over the end part of his speech, making it somewhat telegraphic in style. Poirot responded quickly.
‘I shall be delighted. You can count on me to assist you in any way I can. We must not hurt the feelings of the good superintendent. It will be his case – not mine. I am only the unofficial consultant.’
Colonel Johnson said warmly:
‘You’re a good fellow, Poirot.’
With those words of commendation, the two men started out.
It was a constable who opened the front door to them and saluted. Behind him, Superintendent Sugden advanced down the hall and said:
‘Glad you’ve got here, sir. Shall we come into this room here on the left – Mr Lee’s study? I’d like to run over the main outlines. The whole thing’s a rum business.’
He ushered them into a small room on the left of the hall. There was a telephone there and a big desk covered with papers. The walls were lined with bookcases.
The chief constable said: ‘Sugden, this is M. Hercule Poirot. You may have heard of him. Just happened to be staying with me. Superintendent Sugden.’
Poirot made a little bow and looked the other man over. He saw a tall man with square shoulders and a military bearing who had an aquiline nose, a pugnacious jaw and a large flourishing chestnut-coloured moustache. Sugden stared hard at Hercule Poirot after acknowledging the introduction. Hercule Poirot stared hard at Superintendent Sugden’s moustache. Its luxuriance seemed to fascinate him.
The superintendent said:
‘Of course I have heard of you, Mr Poirot. You were in this part of the world some years ago, if I remember rightly. Death of Sir Bartholomew Strange. Poisoning case. Nicotine. Not my district, but of course I heard all about it.’
Colonel Johnson said impatiently:
‘Now, then, Sugden, let’s have the facts. A clear case, you said.’
‘Yes, sir, it’s murder right enough – not a doubt of that. Mr Lee’s throat was cut – jugular vein severed, I understand from the doctor. But there’s something very odd about the whole matter.’
‘You mean– ?’
‘I’d like you to hear my story first, sir. These are the circumstances: This afternoon, about five o’clock, I was rung up by Mr Lee at Addlesfield police station. He sounded a bit odd over the phone – asked me to come and see him at eight o’clock this evening – made a special point of the time. Moreover, he instructed me to say to the butler that I was collecting subscriptions for some police charity.’
The chief constable looked up sharply.
‘Wanted some plausible pretext to get you into the house?’
‘That’s right, sir. Well, naturally, Mr Lee is an important person, and I acceded to his request. I got here a little before eight o’clock, and represented myself as seeking subscriptions for the Police Orphanage. The butler went away and returned to tell me that Mr Lee would see me. Thereupon he showed me up to Mr Lee’s room, which is situated on the first floor, immediately over the dining-room.’
Superintendent Sugden paused, drew a breath and then proceeded in a somewhat official manner with his report.
‘Mr Lee was seated in a chair by the fireplace. He was wearing a dressing-gown. When the butler had left the room and closed the door, Mr Lee asked me to sit near him. He then said rather hesitatingly that he wanted to give me particulars of a robbery. I asked him what had been taken. He replied that he had reason to believe that diamonds (uncut diamonds, I think he said) to the value of several thousand pounds had been stolen from his safe.’
‘Diamonds, eh?’ said the chief constable.
‘Yes, sir. I asked him various routine questions, but his manner was very uncertain and his replies were somewhat vague in character. At last he said, “You must understand, Superintendent, that I may be mistaken in this matter.” I said, “I do not quite understand, sir. Either the diamonds are missing or they are not missing – one or the other.” He replied, “The diamonds are certainly missing, but it is just possible, Superintendent, that their disappearance may be simply a rather foolish kind of practical joke.” Well, that seemed odd to me, but I said nothing. He went on: “It is difficult for me to explain in detail, but what it amounts to is this: So far as I can see, only two persons can possibly have the stones. One of those persons might have done it as a joke. If the other person took them, then they have definitely been stolen.” I said, “What exactly do you want me to do, sir?” He said quickly, “I want you, Superintendent, to return here in about an hour – no, make it a little more than that – say nine-fifteen. At that time I shall be able to tell you definitely whether I have been robbed or not.” I was a little mystified, but I agreed and went away.’
Colonel Johnson commented:
‘Curious – very curious. What do you say, Poirot?’
Hercule Poirot said:
‘May I ask, Superintendent, what conclusions you yourself drew?’
The superintendent stroked his jaw as he replied carefully:
‘Well, various ideas occurred to me, but on the whole, I figured it out this way. There was no question of any practical joke. The diamonds had been stolen all right. But the old gentleman wasn’t sure who’d done it. It’s my opinion that he was speaking the truth when he said that it might have been one of two people – and of those two people one was a servant and the other was a member of the family.’
Poirot nodded appreciatively.
‘Très bien. Yes, that explains his attitude very well.’
‘Hence his desire that I should return later. In the interval he meant to have an interview with the person in question. He would tell them that he had already spoken of the matter to the police but that, if restitution were promptly made, he could hush the matter up.’
Colonel Johnson said:
‘And if the suspect didn’t respond?’
‘In that case, he meant to place the investigation in our hands.’
Colonel Johnson frowned and twisted his moustache. He demurred.
‘Why not take that course before calling you in?’
‘No, no, sir.’ The superintendent shook his head. ‘Don’t you see, if he had done that, it might have been
